ALS ambassadors
ALS Ambassadors are the face of ALS Quebec. By sharing their personal experience with ALS and speaking about the work of ALS Quebec, they motivate others to take action.
Ambassadors are storytellers, community builders and advocates. They are the people our donors and the media want to meet and talk to.
By volunteering their time to share their lived experience with ALS, Ambassadors inspire people around them to take action and support the cause. They encourage donors and the public to get involved and they help make ALS Quebec’s work more real and tangible to participants, donors, the media and stakeholders.
One of the first things Mario Hudon did after receiving his ALS diagnosis in December 2020 was contact ALS community member and advocate Norman MacIsaac. Mario knew about the e-petition Norm had launched to accelerate access to innovative treatments approved by Health Canada, and wanted to turn his situation into something positive to help others.
Due to his 20-year career as a sports commentator in the Quebec media, Mario had the contacts to get the message out. During the pandemic, he and Norm teamed up by phone to expand the campaign to the francophone community. Their goal was to send a strong message to the federal Minister of Health to address the urgent needs of ALS patients. The response was overwhelming. Together, they collected more than 26,000 signatures across Canada – 10,000 of them right here in Quebec!
To Mario, Norm is a mentor. Seeing all Norm has done to raise awareness during seven years living with ALS – including the publication of his book The Best of the Worst News: Tales of Inspiration from Around the World and My Life with ALS, his bilingual blog More than ALS, his Facebook group and numerous interviews and talks he has given in his role as an ALS Ambassador – Mario feels inspired to push things forward. For his part, Mario has done dozens of media interviews including with QUB/TVA, Radio-Canada and Le Journal de Montréal.
Are you passionate about creating meaningful change in ALS? Do you like speaking in public and want to share your story? As an ambassador, you will represent the ALS Quebec by giving remarks and speaking about your personal experience with ALS at events — particularly fundraisers, schools and companies, or by conducting interviews with the media. Through this work, you will boost our efforts to raise awareness of ALS, our mission and research into treatment and a cure.
Ambassadors require the following, and receive full training and guidance from our team:
- Interpersonal and communication skills
- For speaking opportunities: Independence, punctuality and availability
- Ability to travel (costs will be reimbursed if you use your personal vehicle)